A highly decorated composer in Soviet Russia, Reinhold Glière maintained a low political profile and a conservative but astonishingly inventive melodic style. His interest in national harmonies and folk-music emerges in the Twelve Album Leaves, and his remarkably important contribution to cello repertoire is demonstrated both in his mastery of small forms in the Duets Op. 39, and a unique ability to create orchestral sonorities in the Duets Op. 53, a rare example of an original cycle for the delightful combination of two cellos.

“[Glière] holds our attention by constantly ringing the changes on style and form so as to ensure that each piece has an individual identity and to differentiate it from its neighbours...Such a recipe might well suggest that, by stressing variety and brevity, these works run the risk of sounding disparate or disjointed but, quite apart from the composer’s own skill, the performers’ expertise here ensures that that never happens.” MusicWeb International, April 2013

This CD includes both well known and little known repertoire for the more unusual combination of violin and cello. Kodaly’s Duet is one of the major standards works but the duet by Giovanni Ciri is a rarity and is recorded here for the first time. The piece is worthy of concert performance and offers a broad range of moods and sound effects. Glière’s duets are charming musical miniatures.

A monumental set – the biggest CD edition for a solo artist in the world, celebrating the recording career of Jascha Heifetz - a legend who set a standard of violin playing to which violinists around the world still aspire.

An unparalleled collection of 103 CDs and a bonus DVD of Heifetz in performance.

The incredible recorded legacy collected here spans 55 years of Heifetz’s career: from 1917 to 1972.

Contains three hours of previously unissued Heifetz recordings.

Accompanied by a 260-page hardback book with an original essay by John and John Anthony Maltese, photos, and full discography.

Isaac Stern called his playing “the single most powerful violinistic influence in the twentieth century.” Itzhak Perlman says simply that Heifetz is the “God” of all violinists. The violinist Maxim Vengerov told The Strad magazine in 2009, Heifetz’s recordings “left an incredible mark on my musical life.” Vengerov said that he would listen to a recording by Heifetz “from start to finish and then put it on again, to find out how interesting the violin can sound.”

In his lifetime, the name Heifetz – which became synonymous with perfection – transcended the world of classical music. He made a Hollywood movie, appeared regularly on the radio, was pictured on the cover of Newsweek magazine, and reached an entirely new audience through his extensive USO tours for military service men and women during World War II. He even wrote a hit pop song under the name Jim Hoyl. No less than Frank Sinatra identified him as an influence, saying that he listened to Heifetz to learn how to improve his phrasing.

The incredible recorded legacy contained in this collection spans 55 years of Heifetz’s career: from his first recording session for Victor, just days after his triumphant 1917 Carnegie Hall debut, to his last public recital in October 1972.

These recordings are presented as originally issued on LP by RCA Red Seal, Columbia Masterworks, and Vox cum Laude. Original jacket covers and original labels are reproduced as they first appeared. Bonus CDs contain previously unreleased recordings dating from 1934 to 1964. This beautifully crafted and carefully restored collection will allow a new generation to discover the Heifetz magic, and will remind the rest of us why the great critic Deems Taylor once wrote that Heifetz has “only one rival, one violinist whom he is trying to beat: Jascha Heifetz.”